Vending machine with quickly removable dispensing unit



`lune 2, 1964 A. L., KORR 3,135,425

VENDING MACHINE WITH QUICKLY REMOVABLE DIPENSING UNIT Fig. 22

Filed 0G11. 8, 1962 39 38 ffy/4D l F ig. 3

INVENTOR.

ABRAHAM L.. KORR BY my@ ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,135,425 VENDlNG MACHINE WlTH QUCKLY REMVABLE DISPENSING UNlT Abraham L. Kort, 8712 Hickory Drive, Philadelphia 36, Pa. Filed st. 8, 1962, Ser. No. 229,071 1 Claim. (Cl. 22l-2S2) In general, this invention relates to a new and irnproved vending machine, more particularly, it relates to a vending machine in which there is provided simple means for refilling the machine after it has been emptied or partiallyemptied.

In the past, a problem has existed in the vending machine eld concerning the filling of vending machines after the machine has been emptied or partially emptied. A serviceman attempting to service as many machines in a day as is possible, is hampered by thefact that each machine must have its contents refilled in the place where it is located. This refilling is done by hand, and requires the serviceman to move a conveyor assembly or other ystorage device each time he wishes to insert an object to be dispensed into the machine. To fill a machine having anywhere from one hundred to five hundred trays, requires a considerable amount of time and restricts the number of machines capable of being serviced in a single day by the same serviceman.

In order to overcome this diiiiculty, the present invention provides a vending machine in which the entire conveyor system or storage assembly is replaced by the serviceman when he wishes to refill the machine. In this manner, a complete conveyor or storage assembly can be filled by machine back at the warehouse thereby eliminating the slow and tedious job of refilling at the site of the vending machine. t

In order to accomplish this, the invention comprises a removable conveyor or storage assembly into which the objects to be dispensed are placed. The conveyor or storage assembly is mounted Afor easy removal by placing it on guide members with keying means on the guides to place the conveyor housing in the correct position for use in the Vending machine. A simple chain and sprocket assembly type power means may be provided for ease in connecting and disconnecting the conveyor drive assembly to the motor of the vending machine. With this type rice It i-s an object of this invention to provide a new and better vending machine in which a conveyor unit can be coupled and uncoupled from the drive motor of the vending machine in a simple manner.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preof system, the serviceman need only disconnect the trans- Y mission and remove the conveyor or storage assembly from the vending machine. The serviceman would have with him a new assembly filled with the objects to be dispensed which he would then place in the machine. Thus, the operation of refilling the machine after it had been emptied or partially emptied would take but a few moments of a servicemans time and he could then be able to refill a substantially Vgreater number of machines in any given day.

The present invention is particularly adaptable for use with vending machines. By having the conveyor or storage assembly removable as a unit, the interior of the machine as well as the unit are easier to clean andmaintain.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved vending machine.

It is another object to provide a new and improved automatic vending machine which can be refilled in a short period of time.

It is an object of this invention to provide a vending machine wherein the interior thereof and the conveyor or storage assembly are easier to clean and maintain.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new and automatic vending machine in which the conveyor or storage unit may be easily replaced.

ferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the preciseV arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

Referring to the drawings wherein like references refer to like parts:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of the vending machine with its door ajar to reveal some of the internal structure,

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on lines 2-2 of FIGURE l but with the door included in closed operating position. y

FIGURE 3 is a showing of the vending machine similar to FIGURE 2 in which the door has been removed for clarity, and the conveyor housing is shown as partially removed.

Referring initially to FIGURES l and 2, the vending machine designated generally as 10 comprises a main housing or cabinet 14 and a door 12 hingedly connected along one edge of the cabinet 14.

The housing 14 is divided into three principal compartments, the storage compartment designated generally as 16, `the transmission compartment designated generally as 18, and the power compartment designated generally as 2t).

A vending machine of the type shown herein is described in U.S. Patent 2,930,312 issued to Jacob S. Richman and Abraham L. Korr. The dispensing operation of the vending machine of the present invention is substantially similar to that shown in the above mentioned patent.

The storage compartment 16 is lined with slabs of insulating material and adapted to receive a conveyor or dispensing unit 22 therein. The compartment 16 has a left side wall 16a and a right side Wall 1Gb. Angle irons 24 and 26 are fixedly secured to the right and left sides of the conveyor unit 22, respectively. Angle irons 2S and 30 are fixedly secured to the side walls 16b and 16a, respectively. The angle irons 24 and 26 rest on the angle irons 2S and 30 so as to support the conveyor unit 22 in the storage compartment 16.u Holes 32 (see FIG- URE 3) are drilled at spaced intervals along the flanges 28 and 30, respectively. Holes 32 are drilled in anges 24 and 26 in alignment with the holes 32 in flanges 23 and 30.

When the conveyor unit 22 is in the position shown in FIGURES l and 2,. bolts 36 are placed through the aligned holes 32 and 32. The bolts 36 may be iixedly secured at the ends thereof by means of nuts (not shown) or may be left unsecured at the ends thereof as there is normally little vertical movement of the conveyor unit 22.

The conveyor unit 22 in this instance is driven through a shaft 40 by means of a sprocket 42 integrally connected to the shaft 4i). A sprocket chain 38 is in driving relation with the sprocket 42 and a lower sprocket 46.

As was stated previously, the conveyor unit 22 is similar to the conveyor unit shown in the Richman et al. patent and consists of a serpentine chain drive. The door 12 has a discharge housing 58 movably located in a recess thereof. The discharge housing 58 is hingedly mounted on the vending machine housing 14 so as to swing out of the way when access to the storage compartment 16 is desired.

The discharge housing 58 includes a chute 56 having a pivotal door 60 therein. The chute 56 is adapted to unit 22 and pass them to an opening in the door 12. The

ing unit 22. The conveyor'elements 54 have openings' therein so as to allow a discharge cam S to direct the frankfurter package units out through the chute 6.

The sprocket chain 38 passes through an opening 39 Vin a partition wall 62 separating compartments f6 and 11S.

The sprocket chain 38 passes around a sprocket 46 mounted on a jackshaft 66. T he jackkshaft 66 is supported in suitable bearings by a support member 64.*. An arm 68, rod 70 and crankshaft 72 are driven by motor 7d to rotate jackshaft 66 andy sprocket 46 in a manner disclosed in the Richman et al. patent. K

In the past, it was necessary for the servicernan wishing to refill a machine such as is described in the Richman et al. patent to individually place frankurterrpackage units 52 on the conveyor elements 54. This was necessarily a very time consuming endeavor.

The apparatus shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 is adapted for simple servicing due to the easy removability of the conveyor unit 22 and the insertion of a replacement therefor.

ln FIGURE 3, there is shown the vending machine iiik of the present invention at'one point in the refilling operation.

In order to refill the vending machine, a serviceman would first open the door l2 andthe discharge housing 54. These are hingedly mounted on the vending machine housing i4 and can be moved as shown in VFI- URE 1 to provide complete access to the conveyor cornpartment 16 and the transmission compartment 18. The bolts 36 are then removed from their respective'holes so as to allow the conveyor unit 22 to be moved outwardly of the machine along the fianges 28 and 3@ on the side walls of the storage compartment 16.

As the dispensing unit 22 is moved forward, to the position shown in FGURE 3, the chain 3S slackens and falls loosely around the associated sprockets 42 and 46. When this occurs the serviceman may remove the chain from either of the sprockets. It is vpreferred to remove chain 38 from the vlower sprocket d6 `so that the'chain does not fall to the bottom of the compartment 1S. Once the chain has been removed from one of the sprockets, the entire dispensing unit may be removed by sliding the unit along the fianges 28 and 3i?. The serviceman would have brought with him a replacement dispensing unit filled with the goods to be dispensed by themachine lil.

This unit would be in all ways similar to the dispensing unit 22. The serviceman would place the new dispensing unit so that its flanges 24 and 26 would rest on the flanges 2S and 3) in compartment 16. When the new unit 22 is pushed into the machine and reaches the' position shown in FIGURE 3, 'the serviceman would take the chain 38 which he had previously removed from the old unit and would loosely wrap it around the sprockets 42 and 46. By moving the dispensing unit 22 further into compartment 16, the chain 58 will tighten around the sprockets d2 and 46. When the holes 32 and 32' were in alignment, the bolts 36 would be placed therethrough.

At this point, chain 38 will be tight around the sprockets 42 and 46 and bolts 36 will prevent any unintentional interruption of this relationship. Thereafter, the serviceman need only close the discharge housing 58 and the door i2 to complete the refilling operation.

The present invention may be embodied in other spef cie forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claim, rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating-the scope of the invention.

I claim: Y A vending machine comprising a housing having a k storage compartment therein, door means for obtaining dispensing unit and asecond sprocket secured to said drive means, a movable power transfer means adapted to couple said first and second sprockets'said movable power transfer means` including a sprocket chain connected between said first and second sprockets, said sprocket chain being tightly meshed with said first and second sprockets when said dispensing unit is in a first position completely within said storage compartment, said sprocket chain being loosely meshed with said first sprocket when said dispensing unit is moved a predetermined distance to a second position along said first horizontal guide plates away from said dispensing units first position-in said storage compartment, said first sprocket being vertically aligned with said second sprocket when said dispensing unit is moved a predetermined distance along said first horizontal guide plates toward said door means and away from said dispensing units first position in said storage compartment, said first sprocket being spaced a greater distance from said door means than said second sprocket when said dispensing unit isrin said first position in said storage compartment, said door means lying in a vertical plane, said first and second horizontal guide plates guiding said dispensing unit for'horizontal movement, said first and second horizontal guide plates having holes therein alignedV when said dispensing unit is in said rst position, and pins passing through said holes in said first and second horizontal guide plates to lock said dispensing unit in said first position.

Mihalek Feb. 16, 1960 hama- 

